Gamblers don't cry
by Zinya
Summary: Ellis is all alone, and Nick will save him. Not slash.


*cowers* Please be gentle, I haven't done this in a long while.

* * *

Gamblers don't cry (God damn it).

Zombies. Tonnes and tonnes of zombies. And Ellis was out there, all on his own. Stupid guy just had to go off on a happy zombie killing spree.

"I'm going back out there to get him"

Coach gave him a grim look.

"Neither of you guys gonna help me?"

Rochelle was on her back, Coach hovering over her with a first aid kit, desperately tending to her wounds.

"Do we look like we're in any condition to help you?" Coach snapped.

Nick nodded, but he wasn't going to just leave Ellis out there to die. Not now. He replenished his ammo, and grabbed a bottle of pills.

"You might wanna close the door after me."

"Nick, you're crazy."

"Yeah, but I'm not gonna leave Overalls out there to die." Nick threw open the safe-room door and charged out into the throng of zombies. The butt of his gun caving in plenty of zombie faces.

"ELLIS!? GOD DAMN IT, WHERE ARE YOU?"

He started to open fire on the zombies, his SPAS shots ripping through their soft, decaying flesh. "ELLIS!? ANSWER ME!" Looking back he'd already lost sight of the safe-room door, and prayed to whatever God might be out there that he would be able to find Ellis and make it back in one piece.

"ELLIS!? ELLIS!?!" A circle of zombies caught his attention, they seemed to be fixated with something on the ground in the middle of them. Nick instantly ran over, shotgun being unloaded as fast as he could manage, cutting down the crowd.

And there, lying in a bloody mess, was Ellis. Nick retched at the sight. No med-kit would ever be able to patch him back together.

"Oh God, Ellis. Oh God."

"Ni-ick?"

Nick bent down to Ellis, entirely surprised that the guy was still alive. "What the fuck did you think you were doing? This doesn't look good." He checked his pulse. Weak, too weak. Too much blood loss. Too much damage. He choked back a sob. No, not a sob. Nick didn't cry.

"Nick... it's okay... leave me..."

Breathing was hard for the kid, his lung (or both of them) collapsed. Nick watched as he coughed up blood, adding to the pool around him.

"I'm not gonna leave you here to die. I'll get you back to the safe-room, I swear." Observing the area around him, there were less zombies than before, Nick's frantic killing spree to find Ellis having thinned the horde. He fixed his shotgun to his back before picking Ellis up bridal style, trying his best not to think about the blood that would no doubt start staining his suit. Ellis hissed in pain, biting back his screams.

Something was prickling at Nick's eyes, but he ignored it, pushing on as quickly as possible, desperate to get Ellis back to the safe-room. "You'll be okay, Ellis. Everything is gonna be fine." Nick was talking to himself, not Ellis.

"Nnnick..." Ellis was drifting off into unconsciousness, a blessed relief to the pain that was racking his body.

Suddenly there was a cry, an inhuman scream, and then far too many zombies started to appear in Nick's vision. He instantly headed towards the nearest corner, setting Ellis down before getting the shotgun off his back. Crouching in front of Ellis, he steadied his aim, waiting for the perfect time to start shooting.

"Come on you mother fuckers. I'll give you what you deserve." The howling got louder as more and more zombies piled towards Nick, getting closer and closer with every steady breath he took. Nick didn't panic.

Shots rang out into the distance, zombies flew backwards with the impact of tactical shotgun blasts, and Nick just grinned. His grin got wider with each dead zombie he saw. He was not going to fail Ellis, he was gonna get him back to the safe-room, and Ellis was not going to die.

When he was sure all the zombies were dead, when he was sure nothing else was gonna come (thank fuck none of those freaky special zombies had come along), he re-holstered his shotgun and turned to pick up Ellis. But Ellis feebly put his hand up, stopping Nick is his tracks.

"Leave me Nick... Please... I-I 'aint gonna make it man." Ellis wheezed out.

"Shut up Overalls, you're fine. I'll get you back, patch you up, and you'll be fine." He barked out the last 'fine', desperately trying to fool himself.

"Nick... please. How long have we been travelling together now?" He coughed up more blood, bringing Nick's attention to the new pool of crimson liquid surrounding Ellis, even bigger than the one he found him in. "I know I'm not gonna make it..."

"Ellis, I..." Nicks eyes starting fucking prickling again, Ellis couldn't die, he shouldn't die. If anyone was supposed to die it was himself. His cocky, self-centred, cynical self. Not Ellis. He looked down at the younger man, watching him barely breathe, and put a hand to the mechanics neck, checking his pulse again. Even fainter than before.

"Nick.. It's okay. Just... go. Please?"

Nick closed his eyes, standing up and turning away from the bloody body. Taking a deep breath before he started to walk away.

"Hey Nick... Yo-you 'member... that time we...." But the sentence was never finished, the pain, the collapsed lungs, the God knows what damaged inside him, the extreme loss of blood, all finally taking it's toll on the 'indestructible' mechanic.

Nick didn't falter in his step, his eyes fixed on the safe-room door as he got closer and closer. Something wet trailed down his face. Looking up, he noticed it wasn't raining.

"Yeah, Ellis, I remember."

God damn it, Nick the gambler did not cry!


End file.
